Don’t Waste God’s Grace! By Joel Settecase

Do not let this day go by without reconciling with God and receiving his grace. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for sinners like you and me. He was buried in the ground. And on the third day, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He conquered death. And now Jesus rules from heaven, and he promises if you will turn to him, he will give you his grace without measure. He will give you his grace in an overflowing way, in a way that you cannot even possibly fathom. He will give you eternal life that begins today. Let it begin today. Receive God's grace. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ today. Open your heart to him. Today is the day of salvation. [00:33:40] (45 seconds)  #ReceiveGraceToday

God's grace is available now. It is completely free to you. You can have it immediately. It is a gift. And nothing could be more foolish than to not receive that gift, not to receive that pardon. You know what that would be like? That would be like a man on death row receiving a call from the president that every death row inmate wants to receive. You've been pardoned. You're free to go. And then imagine he just sits there in his cell and never leaves and goes, wow. So cool that I was pardoned and never makes any change, never leaves the jail, never goes back to life, never lives in light of the pardon he's received. Paul is saying, don't do that. You've been you've received grace. Live in light of the grace and the freedom and the liberty that God has given you. So now you might ask, well, what does this look like to not receive God's grace? Am I living in the full freedom that God has for me? How do I know? Well, there are a couple of different ways that we might not receive God's grace immediately. A few different ways that we might not fully be living in God's grace. One way would be [00:09:04] (76 seconds)  #LiveInGraceNow

Maybe you've been there. Maybe you've just seen pictures or videos of it, but you know it is a powerful waterfall. As a matter of fact, I think it's three different waterfalls. And do you know how much water flows over Niagara Falls? It's 40,000,000 gallons a minute. Isn't that just nuts? 40,000,000 gallons a minute go over Niagara Falls, over all the waterfalls that are there. And for thousands of years, Niagara Falls stood there as this awe inspiring spectacle. Anybody who would see it, I'm sure, would be overwhelmed by perhaps an emotional response. But all that water would just go over the waterfall and then go down the Niagara River and and disappear. [00:12:43] (44 seconds)  #NiagaraFallsWonder

Paul called himself a fellow worker with God. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you too can be a fellow worker with God. Ask yourself this. Am I concerned about man's approval, or am I concerned about God's approval? Is my lifestyle consistent with the message that I say that I believe? Am I working together with God, or am I putting obstacles in people's way to come to faith in Jesus Christ? Am I living out the implications of God's grace and remaining steadfast through trials, or am I receiving God's grace in vain and wasting God's grace in my life? Because, my friends, I can promise you this. Trials will come. Jesus promised that. Trials will come. But if you cling on to God's grace, he will enable you to remain steadfast. He gives us the strength to remain steadfast so that we don't waste god's grace in our lives. [00:26:40] (47 seconds)  #FellowWorkerWithGod

Sin really is a tragic offense against the Lord. But just as that is true, so it's also true that God's grace is free and complete. And if you are here today and you have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have to hear me on this. Your status with God is not c minus or d or even b. Because of Jesus Christ and his perfection, because he fully paid the price, your status before God is a plus. Not because of your perfection. All fall short of the glory of God. We all fall short in many ways, scripture tells us. But Jesus Christ never fell short, and he has paid for you. [00:11:12] (42 seconds)  #StatusPlusInChrist

Whatever hardships come your way this week or even today, however people might misunderstand you, misrepresent you, you can remember this. God's grace will be with you. God has grace for you in whatever your situation is. It's there. He is offering it to you. If you trust in Jesus Christ, then open your heart to the Lord fully. Receive that grace and live in the power of that grace. Remain steadfast through trial, not by your own strength, but by his grace alone. Receive that immediately. And if you commit to that, God will respond with even more grace. [00:34:40] (40 seconds)  #GraceInEveryTrial

Paul says, today is the day to realize that. Today is salvation. Don't let the power of God's grace be just a spectacle in your life. Don't let it pass you by. Receive it. Receive it immediately. So that's the first step to not wasting God's grace. The second one is this, remain steadfast. This comes from verses three through 10. This is the longest section of our text today. In verses three through 10, Paul's gonna show us what it looks like to not waste God's grace in our lives. And he starts this section by saying that they don't give he and his fellow ministers do not give a reason or an occasion for offense at all. [00:15:01] (44 seconds)  #ActOnSalvation

Jesus Christ is here. Jesus is the promised messiah. And because Jesus has come and he's here and he has died for our sins and he was buried and he was raised to life on the third day, he's now ascended to heaven, and he gives eternal life and salvation to all who believe in him today. Today is the day of salvation. This is urgent. Don't miss this. Freedom from sin is now being offered. Paul says, this is it. Don't just sit there. Don't just sit there. Respond to God's grace. Receive Jesus Christ as Lord. [00:07:49] (38 seconds)  #FreedomFromSinNow